House Appropriations Committee advances House Bill 25 65 and reports package of bills to the floor

The House Appropriations Committee voted to advance House Bill 25 65 and reported a package of bills to the House floor after a short session, the committee chair said.

The committee executive director opened the meeting with brief summaries of the measures on the agenda, including House Bill 1578 (bonding, training and education requirements for residential person-to-person natural gas and energy suppliers), House Bill 2085 (a personal income tax exemption for eligible volunteer firefighters), House Bill 2481 (a digital assets authorization act), House Bill 2533 (a DHS public awareness campaign for the 988 suicide and crisis lifeline), House Bill 2565 (changes to provisions within article 1 of the tax reform code), House Bill 2583 and House Bill 2608 (classification and compensation parity for Game Commission and waterways conservation officers), and several Senate bills concerning workers’ compensation for first responders, city classifications, and municipal revenue authority for EMS and fire services.

Representative Webster moved to call up House Bill 25 65; Representative Cephas seconded. A roll call followed. Herman Harris and another member recorded “yes”; at least one member was recorded as voting “no.” The chair subsequently stated that House Bill 25 65 "passes the committee" and will be referred to the floor.

Representative Waxman then moved to call up the remaining bills on the agenda as a package, which the chair said would be reported to the floor with Representative Malagari associated with the package motion. The chair noted there were no negative votes and said the bills would be reported to the floor with a unanimous vote.

No committee debate on the merits of individual bills was recorded in the transcript; the session proceeded from the executive director’s overview directly to the motions and roll calls. The chair adjourned the meeting after reporting the package to the floor.

Votes at a glance

- House Bill 25 65 — Motion to call up moved by Representative Webster, seconded by Representative Cephas; committee chair stated the bill "passes the committee" and it was referred to the floor. (Full roll-call detail not fully captured in the transcript.)

- Package of bills (including House Bills 1578, 2085, 2481, 2533, 2565, 2583, 2608 and multiple Senate bills) — Motion to report the listed bills as a package moved by Representative Waxman; chair reported the package to the floor with no negative votes and described the report as unanimous.

The committee did not take additional floor-level action on any single bill during the meeting and adjourned after reporting the package.